Belfield FM

Broadcast area	UCD, Belfield, Dublin
Programming
Language(s)	English, Gaeilge, Chinese
Format	Student Radio
Ownership
Owner	Independent
Sister stations	The International Space Station
Links
Webcast	https://www.belfieldfm.com
Website	www.belfieldfm.com

Belfield FM is University College Dublin's student radio station. The station began broadcasting in 1990. It was initially run as a part of the UCD Students' Union , under the remit of the entertainments office, before becoming an independent entity within the Students' Union. As a result of cost cutting measures, Belfield FM disaffiliated with the SU at the end of the 2011/2012 college year and is now run independently within the UCD Societies Council framework. The station forms part of UCD's student media network, along with The University Observer, The College Tribune, and UCD TV. The station is run by up to nine volunteer staff and over 100 contributors who work on the production, research, and hosting of the station's radio shows.

The station broadcasts live from the 'New Students Centre' in the Belfield FM studio located in the yellow radio station across from the societies corridor. This recording suite is affectionately known to students as 'The Pod'. Belfield FM has had some presence on campus for the past twenty years; however it now operates on a full-time basis.

Programming

The station broadcasts programming from 11:00 until 22:00, Monday to Thursday, and from 11:00 to 19:00 on a Friday. The late start is to accommodate students who may be in classes or lectures, the majority of which take place before lunch time. A number of flagship shows air on a daily basis, including longstanding film talk show "From Script to Screen", advice show "Ais and Han Don't Have a Plan", Chinese travel show, 'Buzz Around China with Gergin' and the station's sport show; 'Differential Strokes for Differential Fantasy Folks', alongside a variety of other talk and music shows.. Due to the fact that the station is run and produced by volunteers throughout and beyond the UCD campus the broadcasting programme is subject to radical changes from semester to semester.

Podcasts

With the massive increase of podcasting globally over the last decade, Belfield FM's output and listenership has focused more and more on podcasting. While members are sent their audio and edit it themselves, they are free to publish their podcasts wherever and whenever they please, although most opt to use Belfield FM's Mixcloud account. The podcasting output is wide and varied, the most popular recurring series being the agricultural talk show "Keepin' it Country". Other podcasts included the surrealist and memetic comedy show "808s and 404s", the irreverent political podcast "The Fifth International", indie music show "Abridged Rumbles, A Council of Weird Religions, and Radio Communique", and American folk music show "Cowboy Dan's Fantastic Orchestra."

The National Student Media Awards

The "Smedias" are an Irish award show directed towards judging and awarding student media which is submitted to their offices via oxygen.ie. Belfield FM have participated extensively in the competition and have found great success in recent years.

Aisling Grennan's 2019 People's Choice Award

William (Willem) McCartney's 2018 People's Choice Award

Patrick Power's 2019 Radio Journalist Award alongside documentary collaborators Cian Lyons and Matthew O'Leary

Year	Nominee	Category	Show/Podcast	Win/Nomination
2015	Stephen Robb	Radio DJ and Radio Production Arts & Features	Keepin' it Country	Nomination
2016	Daniel McGettrick	Radio DJ	The Vinyl Groove	Nomination
2017	Jonathan Byrne	Radio Production News & Current Affairs	Good Morning Belfield	Nomination
	Christian Tierney and Nell Hensey	Radio Production Arts & Features	Visionary	Nomination
	Sean Butler	Radio DJ	Sounds from a Green Room	Nomination
	Oliver Reid	Radio DJ	Tuneisia	Nomination
	Daniel McGettrick	Radio DJ	The Vinyl Groove	Nomination
2018	Alex Lockhart and Nell Hensey	Radio Production Arts & Features	YouCD	Nomination
	Leanne Bergin	Radio DJ	Something Old, Something New	Nomination
	Sean Butler	Radio DJ	Sounds from a Green Room	Nomination
	Oliver Reid	Radio Production News & Current Affairs		Nomination
	William McCartney	People's Choice Award	Abridged Rumbles, A Council of Weird Religions, and Radio Communique	Win
2019	Jade Connell Carroll and Jessica Viola	Radio DJ	Groovy Chicks	Nomination
	Cian Lyons and Matthew O'Leary and Patrick Power	Radio Production News & Current Affairs	Repealed: The Voices Behind	Nomination
	Patrick Power	Radio Journalist	Repealed: The Voices Behind	Win
	Aisling Grennan	People's Choice Award	N/A	Win

Controversies

In 2015 the Societies Council closed the station due to it being unsupervised for lengths of time, showing a lack of commitment and leaving expensive equipment at risk of being stolen. In April of the same year the station was permitted to re-open following the election of a new management committee and has remained in operation since.

During the 2018 National Student Media Awards' People's Choice Award, the online polls were reported to have been tampered by those nominated due to the incredible amount of votes some candidates received in short periods of time. Days before the Award ceremony the votes for each candidate were locked and the number of votes each candidate received were equalised. William McCartney, the station manager at the time, ultimately won but it remained unclear if he had been the candidate with the most votes.

In late 2018, "Keepin' it Country" were criticised by the College Tribune for inappropriate comments regarding named students live on air. The popular show and podcast subsequently removed all episodes of the show from their SoundCloud page. Upon the semester of broadcasting, the controversial show was notably absent from the schedule of programming.

In 2019, the show "Up Late with Dave" featured an interview John Connors to discuss issues and perceptions regarding the travelling community of Ireland. During the interview Connors supposedly expressed negative feelings and raised concerns of disconnect between the travelling community and Pavee Point. The station quickly responded with an apology on their website.